Radicalism and Enantiodromia: A Trialectic of Modernity, Post-modernity, and Anti-modernity in the Islamic World

• In Event: 1580 - Section on Sociology of Religion Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 06. Theoretical Developments and Applications

Abstract

Proponents of secularization theory have established a tradition of viewing the association between modernization religion as one of a long and fundamentally linear decline. Yet, the rising of Islamic radical ideologies, inter alia, serves as a significant challenge to this thesis. In this article, considering historical facts, we try to build an alternative theoretical framework which can explain the paradox of modernity in the Islamic world. Using the Jungian concept of “enantiodromia” and Weberian idea of “Disenchantment of the World”, we argue that Islamic radicalism can be considered as a reactionary effort to push back the process of modernization in Islamic countries. We distinguish between two different sets of symbols and historical trends in the Islamic World, both of which prior researchers have tended to collapse into an inappropriately broad and imprecise rubric of “Islamic fundamentalist movements.” In this work, we strive to differentiate between Muslims’ responses to modernity and post-modernity. By taking a more nuanced approach to the simplified version of the secularization thesis, we think, at least for the Islamic World, one can hypothesize a non-linear path for the process of modernization and its consequences in the realm of religion. While elements of cultural lag theory do appear adequate for explaining parts of this complex matter, yet we make the case that moving beyond monocausal propositions to incorporate broader and more nuanced theoretical and historical framework is necessary to move to an adequate and pragmatically workable framework of understanding. We discuss in terms of theory and policy implications.

Authors

• Peyman Hekmatpour, University of Oklahoma

• Thomas J. Burns, University of Oklahoma